Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today paid tribute to the Pakatan Rakyat election machinery and the voters in Penanti for the victory of PKR candidate Mansor Othman.

MCPX

“In the past 14 months, the voters have faced an election three times (including his own parliamentary constituency of Permatang Pauh).

“Despite this, they have not wavered from supporting Pakatan Rakyat’s agenda for change. The results show that ‘justice’ is still supported by the people,” he said.

Anwar also commended the people of Penanti for “making the right choice” in endorsing Mansor as their representative and the future deputy chief minister of Penang.

“Hopefully, he will honour the trust they have placed in him by working hard to serve the people,” he added.

Speaking to reporters at the counting centre later, Anwar said despite the low voter turnout, it was still a ‘convincing’ victory.

“I feel proud with the result we achieved. Although we faced the challenge of independent candidates, we still managed a commendable win,” he added.

Meanwhile, Mansor said he is looking forward to serve the people.

“I will seek guidance from my two leaders, Anwar and (Penang Chief Minister Lim) Guan Eng,” he said thanking all Pakatan leaders and supporters.

Lim said he will recommend Mansor as deputy chief minister I and will be sworn in on Wednesday.

“I welcome the fact that a capable leader with excellent academic qualification will assist me in governing the state,” he added.

Nai Khan disappointed

Meanwhile, independent candidate Nai Khan Ari said he was disappointed with his defeat, especially as he had to lose his deposit.

“If not, I can treat my supporter to eat. I now only can use lesser budget to treat them,” he told reporters at the polling centre.

He said that he had expected to win in Teluk Wang and Sungai Lembu. In the final tally, he had come behind Mansor in these two areas as well.

The former Penang Gerakan youth leader was however glad that he had raised so issues in his campaign, especially on matters relating to poverty and the lack of basic amenities in Teluk Wang.

“I hope the federal and state governments will look after these people,” he said.

He also made it clear that he will not be rejoining Gerakan and will remain an independent so that he can freely voice out his opinion.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Mansor savours victory…finally

Athi Veeranggan | Jun 1, 09 11:49am Malaysiakini.com

comment

MCPX

PKR’s Mansor Othman has finally won an electoral battle in Penang, taking the Penanti state seat yesterday with a comfortable 5,558-vote majority over three independent candidates.

Yet, it isn’t a remarkable victory except for the fact that he broke the duck after three defeats to Umno candidates in previous outings since 1999 and is now able to take his place in the mainstream of Pakatan Rakyat politics.

But only 46.15 percent or 7,100 of the registered 15,384 voters in Penanti had bothered to cast their ballots – the lowest turnout in recent memory.

Perhaps Pakatan supporters had taken victory for granted following the decision of arch-rivals Umno not to enter the contest. The seat had been vacated on April 16 by PKR’s Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin.

During their rallies, Pakatan leaders had praised Penanti constituents for chasing Umno and BN away without a contest.

But it was clear that, without Umno, there was no spark to the contest, as one young voter put it. Drawing similarities with an action-packed Hollywood thriller, he said an exciting electoral battle needs a popular hero and a cunning villain. Penanti offered neither.

There were none of the post-election scenes witnessed when Anwar won the Permatang Pauh by-election last August by more than 15,000 votes.

Thousands had sung, danced and roared from nomination day to polling day, not only to welcome the return of their ‘king’ to active politics, but also to demonstrate their disgust with Barisan Nasional. Penanti voters had contributed 3,276 to Anwar’s total.
All up to Mansor now

Mansor, a former associate professor at Universiti Sains Malaysia, is now set to be appointed the deputy chief minister 1 in the Penang government led by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Mansor, according to some observers, could be the perfect sidekick to Lim in carrying out many social programmes for lower-income groups, especially in rural areas.

However, he will have to prove himself as well as improve PKR’s performance in the state government, largely to make up for disappointment with Mohammed Fairus.

Pakatan leaders, meanwhile, may describe his win as victory for the people, rather than for the opposition coalition.

Penanti has given Pakatan a fifth straight by-election win in the peninsula since the 12th general election in March last year.